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Fantasy Book Review – The Summoner by Gail Z Martin

10.11.2011 · Posted in Ebooks Articles

Fantasy readers craving a good quest with an fascinating solid of characters will find page-turning fun in Gail Z. Martin’s The Summoner. The hero of the story is that the Prince of Marjolan, Martris Drayke, a second son of the king content to not inherit his father’s throne. However Martris, who goes by the short name Tris, lives in worry of his elder 0.5 brother Jared, who is a wholly reprehensible person. A violent womanizer and abuser of folks in general, Jared unleashes a vicious coup at the opening of the book in which he kills his father and Tris’s mother and sister. Tris barely escapes along with his life along with a loyal guard captain, a bard, and man-at-arms.rnWith supernatural help and Tris’s ability to communicate with and management spirits — powers he inherited from his sorceress grandmother — they escape into the countryside. Fugitives currently, Tris and his companions journey toward an adjoining kingdom to seek refuge and aid. They hire a notorious however skilled mercenary and smuggler named Vahanian to assist them. While surviving various dangers, Tris learns additional about his powers and realizes that he’s a Summoner who can, among other things, call spirits and facilitate them cross into the afterlife.rnBecause the new King of Marjolan, Jared desperately needs Tris dead and sends troopers and bounty hunters when him. Swords and spears are not all Tris has got to dodge as a result of Jared is allied with the sinister mage Arontala who blocks Tris’s escape with a spell that summons magical beasts. Arontala is also imprisoning the soul of Tris’s sister, and Tris longs to line her free.rnAs the story progresses the character of Kiara, Princess of Isencroft, is introduced. Years earlier she had been betrothed to Jared, however currently she naturally despises the thought of wedding him. To weaken her kingdom and force her to seek Jared’s protection, Arontala has solid a spell on Kiara’s father and afflicted him with a wasting illness that may only be cured by Arontala’s death that can break the spell. Hoping to find a cure for her father, Kiara embarks on a journey recommended by a non secular sisterhood. On this journey she inevitably meets Tris and romance blossoms together with an alliance to destroy Jared and Arontala.rnThe strengths of this book are its sensible pace, realistic action, pleasing use of supernatural and magical components, and a decent plot. The action will not lag and therefore the story progresses comfortably. The fight scenes are exciting and plausible, meaning that the characters don’t seem to be surviving against not possible odds. Their wins create sense and once they get captured it makes sense. For instance, the chapters in that Tris and company are traveling with a merchant caravan and suffer attacks from bandits and slavers are a number of the most effective within the book. With reference to the fantasy components, Martin is nice at using familiar horror devices like ghosts and vampires in pleasing ways. Many times Tris has to address angry spirits that are haunting their respective vicinities, and he generally employs the powers of the spirits against his enemies. Conjointly a race of vampires inhabits the land. The plot is clear and motivates the characters properly, and Martin never leaves a reader wondering what is going on.rnThe weaknesses of the book, but, keep it from being top shelf literature. The dialogue is lame and comes across as if it was generated by software that harvests lines from dangerous movies. Then there is the overuse of chapters ending with Tris going to sleep or passing out and then the following chapter beginning with him waking up. Yes, it’s fine to use this segue generally, however it’s a persistent crutch throughout this narrative for closing and gap chapters. Finally, some of the scenes felt lifted directly from Star Wars, particularly the components with Vahanian and his love interest. A smart portion of the finale of the book was definitely sewn from a Star Wars pattern too.rnAltogether, The Summoner may be a fantasy book that gives readers with adequately attention-grabbing popcorn style entertainment. It has well paced quest action and adventure that doesn’t allow the reader to urge bored among a competently constructed narrative. I rate it 3 swords and a chastity belt as a result of there aren’t any hot love scenes.

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